Rodrik Nyte
Lord Rodrik Nyte, also known as The White Cat, White Rodrik, The Ghost of Darkmyre and the Pale Horror 'is a recurring character in the third and sixth seasons. He is played by guest star Joaquin Phoenix and debuts in "Dark Wings, Dark Words". Rodrik Nyte is the youngest and only living son of Trytas Nyte and his wife, Aryana Ryswell. An albino, Rodrik has milk white skin, long white hair, and pink-red eyes. Therefore, his personal coat of arms is an alteration of the Nyte shadowcat, white instead of black, with pink eyes. He has a pet raven called Lord Ice. Biography Background Rodrik is the youngest son of Aryana Ryswell and Lord Trytas Nyte. Trytas was the head of House Nyte and the Lord of Darkmyre, ruling over a valley in the North known as the Myre. He is the younger brother of Tesha Nyte. His mother died a year after his birth and so he has never met her. He is an albino, causing him problems and discrimination. His unnatural appearance led him to being referred to derisively by various names, such as "the Pale One" and "the Ghost of Darkmyre". This is mitigated by his intellect and his family's wealth and power. Had an infant with albinism like Rodrik been born a commoner, he would've been discarded straight after birth. However, Rodrik was born into a powerful noble House, and was therefore spared. His father loved Rodrik nonetheless but, wary of everyone else's opinion about him, chose to raise Rodrik like a bastard and not give him much attention. This made Rodrik a bittered and cold man, and naturally a solemn loner. Even though others didn't think much of him, Rodrik, ironically, rose to become the Lord of Darkmyre in the end, despite being the youngest of six children. When he rose as Lord of Darkmyre, he became a feared and powerful bannerman of Roose Bolton, and later Ramsay Bolton. When he was 16, Rodrik fell in love with the kennelmaster's daughter, named Tarla. The feeling seemed mutual, but it seemed to be just a ruse when he was brutally attacked by a group of bullies. Apparently, Tarla was employed by Rodrik's older brothers to trick the young Rodrik into believing she was truly in love with him, only to ridicule and belittle him. What the brothers didn't anticipate though, was that the bullies actually assaulted him. They burned his right cheek and slashed his eye. Tarla and the bullies were never seen again, and Rodrik was left emotionally and physically scarred. Ever since that day, Rodrik vowed to never love anyone again and developed a deep hatred towards his brothers."The Bear and the Maiden Fair" Over the years, Rodrik's older brothers, Harkon, Bryan, Gregor and Robert, all died under unknown circumstances. Although there was no real proof that violence was used, Trytas believed Rodrik killed them to ensure his position as heir. Because of his status as an albino, Rodrik was given many derisive names. One of these included "white cat". Instead of being offended by the nickname, Rodrik took pride in it and he became popularly known as "the White Cat". He even took to using a white shadowcat in his own personal heraldry: like the standard Nyte heraldry it uses a dark-blue background with white stars, but swaps out the normal black shadowcat for a white one.Heraldry Season 2 After Stoney Sept is seized by House Lannister forces, Rodrik is dispatched by his father Trytas Nyte to re-take it in the name of King Robb Stark. Rodrik's forces besiege the town and he infuriates the Lannister general by launching rocks painted with a white cat's paw onto the town all through the night. The following morning, the general rallies his men to defend the town, but he is betrayed and killed by his men, who accept Rodrik's offer of mercy for the Lannister garrison if they surrender and kill their general. However, the town is sacked by Rodrik afterwards and instead of letting the Lannisters walk free, he hangs them and kills the town's inhabitants."Valar Morghulis" Season 3 Rodrik returns from the Stoney Sept and joins Roose Bolton and his father's forces at Harrenhal who have just liberated the castle. When he is asked what happened at Stoney Sept, Rodrik claims that the Lannisters have already sacked the town and killed the citizens, but he was able to defeat the garrison nonetheless. Messenger-ravens come to Harrenhal bearing news of Hoster Tully's death, and of Winterfell's destruction. Roose delivers the messages to Robb, who charges Bolton with holding Harrenhal with a portion of the Northern army, while he and the bulk of his forces ride for Riverrun."The Bear and the Maiden Fair" Afterwards, Rodrik and Roose arrive at the Twins, while Trytas rejoined the Grayburn host, to attend the wedding of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey. However, Rodrik has been secretly plotting with House Frey and House Bolton to ultimately bring about the downfall of the Starks. During the wedding, he is seated next to his father, and prior to the massacre he discusses the heritage of Darkmyre with his father, Trytas. Trytas declares that Rodrik's older sister, Tesha Nyte, will inherit Darkmyre after his death. This angers and upsets Rodrik and he tries to win his father's favour by faking his love for him. Trytas stands by his decision and Rodrik's anger cools down. After the conversation, Rodrik stands from his seat and converses with a few Nyte soldiers and walks away. When the massacre ensues, Trytas grabs his sword to fight but instead, he is stabbed in the back by Rodrik. When Trytas falls to his knees, he gives a last look of disappointment and sadness at his son, before he dies. Rodrik continues to slaughter Stark and Tully soldiers, afterwards, one of whom was Rufus Caswell, the Lord of Pale Pass. After Roose has killed Robb, Rodrik goes outside to find Carmine, Taria, Lysander and Sammith. When Teran Lannister arrives by horse, Rodrik explicitly explains to him that he wants Carmine alive. What happens to the rest, is up to Teran's discretion. He continues to cause havoc around the camp while he searches every tent for the Grayburns. He burns the Grayburn tent in anger for not being able to find Carmine. When he sees Carmine and the others flee into the woods. He prepares to fire a crossbow at them and hits Sammith straight to the neck. He quickly reloads to fire another bolt at Carmine, but instead lowers it and jokingly yells at them: "So long, Lord Grayburn!". After the Red Wedding, Roose Bolton and Walder Frey gloat over the deaths of the Starks and the capture of Edmure Tully, though Roose is wary about the escape of Brynden Tully, concerned that he will reach the safety of Riverrun before he can be found. Walder comments that it must have been difficult following Robb Stark, and Roose notes that Robb never once listened to his advice. Walder jokingly raises a toast to the Young Wolf, and Roose says that he will now be forever young. Roose then explains to Walder what ''really happened at the Sack of Winterfell: it was actually Roose's bastard son Ramsay Snow, leading a force of Bolton soldiers, who burned Winterfell to the ground. Roose falsely reported to Robb that Theon and the ironborn were responsible to deflect suspicion from the Boltons - while Ramsay captured Theon and has been sadistically torturing him in the Dreadfort's dungeon. Roose and Rodrik decided to betray Robb and the Grayburns long ago, after the Lannisters defeated Stannis Baratheon at the Battle of the Blackwater, and were simply feigning loyalty this entire time, even as they were plotting the Starks' destruction."Mhysa" Season 5 Rodrik, now the new Lord of Darkmyre, continues to oppose House Grayburn while he has pledged his banners to Roose Bolton. Roose, who is now the Warden of the North, has tasked Rodrik with killing Carmine, Hendrick, Kormed, and the rest of the Grayburn household. Season 6 When Roose is murdered by Ramsay, he is named the new Warden of the North. Rodrik and Harald Karstark then become his lieutenants, respectively. Meanwhile, Rodrik's older sister, Tesha Nyte, has left Darkmyre and has set course to the Wall, while taking with her the ancestral Nyte blade, Nightfall. Rodrik also supports Hersham Groatworth's rise to power in Brightbank and provides him with additional soldiers in the city, unaware of Lord Groatworth's allegiance with Cersei Lannister."Home" Rodrik is present when Ramsay parleys with Jon Snow and Sansa Stark. He insults Jon and Sansa few times and repeatedly calls Jon a bastard, but he's quickly dismissed by Ramsay. Rodrik and Nyte forces participate in the Second Battle of Winterfell, fighting alongside Ramsay Bolton. When the Starks win the battle, Rodrik is taken captive by Jon Snow and locked inside the dungeons beneath Winterfell to await further judgement. In his cell, Sansa visits Rodrik and the two engage in a conversation. When Sansa asks why Rodrik would kill his own father and betray the Starks, he admits that he doesn't care about the Boltons or the Starks. He truthfully acknowledges that his house has fallen into disgrace ever since his ancestors swore fealty to the Grayburns. He says that the Nytes once wielded fear like a massive weapon of destruction, but were ever since degraded into the minor noble house following their nigh-extinction; all Rodrik ever wanted was his house to be proud and strong again, and if it costed his loyalty to the Grayburns and the Starks, including the death of his own brothers and father, then so be it. After hearing his story, Sansa leaves. Personality Rodrik is an ambitious, bittered, cold and intelligent man, but also cautious, ruthless, and easily capable of unspeakable cruelty. Politically astute, he frequently offered the most pragmatic advice to Carmine Grayburn, albeit the most ruthless, such as recommending that they put prisoners to the sword. Rodrik is not only power hungry, but also mentally unstable; he rarely controls himself even in public. The worst traits about his personality is his sadism and psychotic outbreaks, though his worst shortcoming is his lack of approval."The Rains of Castamere" As a sixthborn suffering from albinism, he has suffered a fair amount of discrimination and ridiculement, while also growing up in the shadow of his brothers. Because of all this, Rodrik longed for Trytas's approval as a father, although he had an obnoxious (yet fair) outlook about his son. Eventually, Rodrik learned that he would never rise high in the world if he continued to appease his father. And so, he had to take matters into his own hands and make himself rise to the top. Although it has never been proven, it is believed that Rodrik murdered all of his brothers, effectively making him the heir to the lordship of Darkmyre. Roose's betrayal to House Stark worked in Rodrik's favour as he was convinced that the only way his house could rise high, is if they would abandon the Grayburns. And so, Rodrik murdered his father for his own purposes, and he eventually succeeded in becoming a more powerful and feared individual. As for relationships, Rodrik rarely ever loves anybody. His mistreatment as an albino embittered him and he was convinced that love was false. In his youth, several girls, including Tarla, feigned their love for him, only to ridicule and bully him further. Because of this, Rodrik resorted to prostitution for sex, instead. Despite his cold nature, Rodrik does love certain members in his family. He is shown to have a fatherly affection to his sister's son, Desmond Blackfell, despite Desmond technically being a hostage and a political prisoner of the Nytes."The Red Woman" Quotes '''Quotes by Rodrik Quotes about Rodrik Appearances Image Gallery Harkon and rodrik.jpg|Harkon Nyte and Rodrik, as a child. Rodrik2.jpg Rodrik.png Rodrik tree.jpg Family tree Behind the scenes Joaquin Phoenix's role as Rodrik Nyte was announced in late 2012. Before being cast as Rodrik, Phoenix auditioned for the role of Ramsay Snow, but lost to Iwan Rheon. Jack Gleeson, the actor who portrays Joffrey Baratheon, said that Commodus (an iconic character also portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix) from ''Gladiator ''was one of the movie villains that impacted him most, and therefore was excited to hear that Phoenix would portray Rodrik Nyte. In the books In the ''A Song of Ice and Fire ''novels, Rodrik is Trytas Nyte's ninthborn son. He has four brothers and four sisters and is considered to be the black sheep of the family. He is an albino, causing him to be discriminated and ridiculed. Rodrik, as a child, was described as good-looking and fairly handsome, despite his albinism which most people in Westeros find hideous. However, as a child, Rodrik was attacked by a group of bullies where he was horrifically disfigured, leaving him facially scarred. He has a milk white skin, long, wispy white hair, and red eyes. He is an ambitious, albeit a cruel man with psychopathic tendencies. Despite being raised like a bastard by his father, Rodrik is surprisingly intelligent and well-educated. While the rest of his brothers grew up like proper lords, Rodrik spent most of his youth alone and educating himself. The maester refused to tutor the young Rodrik as he disdains albinos. After ascending as Lord of Darkmyre after his father's death at the Red Wedding, Rodrik becomes a ruthless, power hungry, and feared individual. In the books, Rodrik does not kill his father, but rather he tasks a lackwit member of House Frey to do it for him, as he does not want to lose face over patricide. See also * House Nyte * Albinism References Category:SharkyBytesz Category:Lords Category:Characters Category:Lords of Darkmyre Category:House Nyte Category:Major Characters Category:Recurring Characters Category:Characters from the North Category:Status: Alive Category:Alive